Easter 2014

Sometimes life just speeds by. 

All the time actually.

But now and then you find pictures that remind you of something that was wonderful, but your finite mind and the rush of the everyday, coupled with the passing of time caused you to forget.

Even though you feel bad for forgetting it, it is probably a good thing that the only memories you have left of the event are the ones captured in the photo.  

The photo where everyone is smiling.  

There are no signs of stress or frustration...just happiness and smiles all around.

Easter was one of those events for me.

It came and went like a spring blossom.  And to tell the truth I didn't remember it.  But the other day I was looking through my photos trying to get caught up on my family's history book - aka my blog - and I found the Easter pictures.  As I started to edit them, the memories came flooding back.  

So before they leave my mind again, I thought I better capture them here.

"Our Easter - 2014"

For Easter this year we were lucky enough to have some of our favorite visitors - my cousin, Jordan and her hubby, Peter Pieper.  We lovingly refer to them as PP&J.  They were traveling through on their way to Colorado for the summer.

They were also kind enough to stay and watch our kids while we took a Mexico adventure...more on that to come. :)

To celebrate Easter we did our traditional Easter Egg coloring/painting party.  We started painting eggs awhile back and I love this new tradition.  It takes longer than just dipping them, and the kids get to develop their artistic talents.  Love that!

Some took it pretty seriously.

We also put our new popcorn popper to good use.  So delicious!

End results. 

Love that she made a "Choose the Right" egg.  Easter is a perfect time to remind us to follow our Savior's example in all we do.

Then came the usual Easter Egg hunt.  This year, much to the chagrin of my family, I made the kids all get dressed in their new Sunday clothes and take pictures BEFORE we hunted eggs.  You would have thought Super-nanny had just shown up and told them to do tons of chores.  The moaning and groaning was at it's peak.

But all these years I have dreamed of cute Easter Egg hunt pictures where my kids look pressed and dapper as they run around hunting eggs with wide smiles on their faces.  The running and smiling faces always happens but I sort of wanted them to look less than homeless for a change.

The nice thing was that even though they thought I was cruel, they played along nicely because they knew they weren't hunting a single egg until I had good pictures. :)  

All is fair in love and Easter eggs.

Here they are all gussied up:

See they don't look too traumatized...I will probably do this each year from here on out. :)

Then came the long anticipated Egg hunt...

Afterwards we headed off to church (lds.org) and felt the Spirit reaffirm the divinity of our Savior and His Atonement and Resurrection.

How grateful I am for my Savior.  He heals, strengthens, and redeems me.  He is my example and friend.  How I love Him.

How I love Easter and how it fills my thoughts of Him, and who I can be because of Him.

Happy Easter!  

Recent Additions to our Home

Back in September we suffered a tragedy in our family.  Our brother-in-law Greg, passed away.  He was survived by Trev's sister Amy and their 10 children.

Since that time, we have had the blessing to have 2 of their dear daughters staying in our home.  They are both just lovely and we have loved having them here.  They will only be with us a few more months before they will rejoin their mother and siblings in their new home that is currently under construction.  

We will miss them when they go.  The older girl is Cheyenne, who we call Shiney.  She is 15 and a great teen.  Her sister London is 8. Her and Morgan have become BFF's.  What great girls they both are.

Fun Fact about Shiney:  She is a GREAT cook!
She loves cooking, and we LOVE eating her creations. :)

For one of her Personal Progress Projects she decided to make us all dinner for 2 weeks and start a recipe blog to document her meals!  Yay for us! :)

Her blog is : www.shineysilverspoon.blogspot.com

Feel free to check it out and try her recipes...so far they have all been wonderful!

So here they are - Chef Shiney and Little London

This girl has particularly benefited from having a fun cousin move in. :)  As have we all!  Love these girls.

Weekend at Gma's

My kids LOVE grandma's house.  Are there children who don't?  They get to take a mini-trip, play CONSTANTLY with cousins, eat more treats, and stay up late.  By the end, they are usually spent, but they live it up every minute they have. :)  


Since it is summer, and my kids LOVE grandma's house for reasons stated above,(and because I wanted Trev to build me an entertainment center while we were gone)we headed north to my parents house. :)  


It was party-time from about the minute I arrived.  We got there, put our bags down, and headed to the park for a pizza picnic, and cousin playtime.

This is Jake making the boys laugh with his belching skills...a talent acquired from his father...not me. :)  The boys LOVED it!  The mom's just rolled their eyes.  I just smiled. That's my boy! :)

Does this picture not just scream summertime? I thought so. 

Me and my mom.  I sure love this lady. She is pretty special.  

Cousins just seem to click immediately, don't they?

Two gals, very dear to my heart.


After the park extravaganza it was back to Gma's...where the party continued until my kids just about passed out at 10:30 p.m.!
But really, how could I break this action up??

Why these two are shirtless, you might ask? Jake took of his shirt...something he is known to do...and so the other boys followed suit.  Then the girls.  Pretty soon all the little cousins were shirtless.  I kept mine on, in case you were wondering. :)


The next morning I got up early and went for a BEAUTIFUL run in Logan around Utah State University.  Logan takes my breath away on it's own, but then to get a glimpse back into college life was even better.  I finished my run past the Logan temple.  It felt so good.  Truly rejuvenating.


When I got back, we loaded all the kids, food, floaties, and towels, and headed out to the Logan Aquatic Center.  This place was AWE-SOME!  Shaded picnic tables, waterslides, huge kiddie-pool, diving boards...it basically had it all!  My kids were in heaven...and to have cousins to enjoy it with...EVEN BETTER!  I think we wound up staying for 5 hours!  A record in our house. :)  Afterwards, we headed back, bathed the kids, started shows to wind them down, and then headed to bed.  


So if your curious as to why I have no pictures of this totally fantastic place, the answer is quite simple.
A) Water
B) 9 children under the age of 8


I would be taking no chances with my fancy camera...but next time I go, Trev is coming with me so I can sit back and shoot all I want. :)


The next morning we pretty much just got up, packed up, and headed to lunch before we hit the road home.  I had been bragging to my family about how great Kneaders is, because I noticed a new one in Logan on my way into town.  Now, I have to say that my family is NOT the most adventurous, nor are they notorious for trying (and liking) new things.  But I thought, hey, who wouldn't like Kneaders french toast??!!  Well, I am sad to report that after convincing my family to go there, we arrived and found out that they stopped serving breakfast about an hour prior. :(  So we all got sandwiches instead.  My family wasn't too pleased.  I felt bad. :(  Luckily they still love me...I think. :)  


After a weekend away, it is always so nice to return home...especially when you get home to this:

And him. :)